Toronto-based AI company Cohere has released a new tool called Embed 4 that helps businesses search through their information more easily and cheaply. According to Gadgets360, this new tool was launched last week and is already available for companies to use.
What Is Embed 4?
Embed 4 is an AI-powered search tool that can understand many different types of information. When we say “multimodal,” we mean it can make sense of text, pictures, graphs, tables, diagrams, and even computer code. Think of it like a super-smart assistant that can read and understand everything in your company’s files, not just the words.
The tool uses something called embeddings, which is a way of translating information into a special computer language that AI systems can understand better. It’s like creating a map of your data that helps the computer find exactly what you’re looking for, even if you don’t use the exact words in your search.
- Works with over 100 languages – It can understand documents in many different languages
- Handles messy data – It was trained on real-world, imperfect information
- Fits with existing systems – Companies can add it to their current AI tools
- Secure for sensitive industries – It can be set up to meet strict security rules
How Is It Different?
Traditional search methods, including something called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), work like old-fashioned library searches. They mostly look for exact words or close matches to what you typed. This often misses important information or gives you results that aren’t really what you wanted.
Embed 4 is smarter because it understands the meaning behind your search, not just the words you use. It’s like having a librarian who knows exactly what book you need, even if you describe it poorly.
| The Hurdles of Traditional RAG | |
|---|---|
| Slow responses when searching through large amounts of data | Embed 4: The Solution! Smarter, Faster |
| Struggles with pictures, graphs, or code mixed with text | |
| Gets confused by unclear questions or messy data | |
| How Embed 4 Addresses These | |
| Works faster with more efficient data processing | |
| Understands many types of content in one document | |
| Makes better sense of unclear questions and messy information | |
Benefits for Businesses
One of the biggest advantages of Embed 4 is that it can cut data storage costs by up to 83%. This is because it uses compressed embeddings, which is like shrinking your data without losing its meaning. Cohere has mentioned this cost saving in their blog posts and on social media, though they haven’t shared exactly how they calculated this number.
A company called Agora, which makes an AI search engine, has already tried Embed 4. They found it helped them make e-commerce searches faster and cheaper. This shows how the tool can make a real difference in practical business situations.
Where Can Businesses Use It?
Companies can use Embed 4 in several ways:
- On Microsoft Azure AI Foundry – Microsoft’s cloud platform for AI tools
- On Amazon SageMaker – Amazon’s service for building AI applications
- In virtual private clouds (VPC) – special secure areas within cloud services that only your company can access
- In on-premise environments – installed directly on a company’s own computers instead of in the cloud
This flexibility means that even companies that need to keep their data extra secure, like banks or healthcare providers, can still use Embed 4 without worrying about privacy issues.
Real-World Applications
Businesses can use Embed 4 to build better AI applications and agents. An AI agent is like a digital assistant that can perform tasks for you, such as answering customer questions or finding specific information in company documents. With Embed 4, these digital assistants become much smarter and more helpful.
In conclusion, Cohere’s Embed 4 represents a significant step forward in how businesses can search through their data. By making search smarter, faster, and cheaper, it helps companies find the information they need without wasting time or money. As more businesses adopt AI tools, solutions like Embed 4 will likely become increasingly important for staying competitive in the digital world.
